Event Type: IFIMAColloquium
Title: Fourier Pixels for Reciprocal Light Control
When: Friday, 16th January, 2026, at 12:00h
Where: Conference Room, Module 00, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Speaker: David J. Norris, Optical Materials Engineering Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Digital cameras and displays utilize pixels that perform a single function: detecting or emitting light intensity. To exploit the full information content of electromagnetic waves, more advanced elements are required. This has driven the development of multifunctional components. However, no pixel exists that both senses and generates optical waves with full control over amplitude, phase, and polarization, limiting reciprocal control and feedback of sophisticated light fields. Here we will discuss a route to such pixels by demonstrating a versatile platform of miniaturized diffractive elements based on Fourier optics. We exploit plasmonic surface waves, which propagate coherently and efficiently across metallic surfaces. When these plasmons are launched toward wavy microstructures designed with simple Fourier analysis, arbitrary and background-free optical wavefronts are generated. Conversely, incoming light can be sensed and its amplitude, phase, and polarization fully characterized. By combining or superposing several such components, we create multifunctional “Fourier pixels” that provide compact and accurate control over the optical field. Our approach, which could also use photonic waveguide modes, establishes a scalable, universal architecture for vectorially programmable pixels with applications in adaptive optics, holographic displays, optical communication, and quantum-information processing.
